This was a tale of two halves for Auburn, at the end of the 2nd Quarter Auburn was only down 2 points despite only shooting 26% from the field after a strong defensive effort from the Tigers who forced 7 turnovers from the Cougars and out-rebounded them 27-20.
This defensive effort took a hit in the 2nd half of the game as they allowed BYU to score 45 points on 18/32 shooting including 6/8 to open the 3rd quarter and start a 21-9 run to end the quarter as the Cougars scored at the rim with ease.
Through the first three quarters Auburn struggled to score the ball, shooting only 32% from the field and a horrendous 14% from 3 which culminated in only 39 points in three quarters of play. The Tigers struggled to finish at the rim, even on their many 2nd chance opportunities as they grabbed 21 offensive rebounds.
Though all was not lost for the Tigers as they found some momentum after forcing the Cougars to turn the ball over on two straight out of bounds plays sparking Auburn’s offense at the rim as they chipped a 15-point BYU lead down to 4 and it seemed the Tigers had an opportunity to stage an epic comeback like they had done many times this season.
But the Tiger’s comeback came up short as both of Auburn’s leading scorers, Janiah McKay and Dasia Alexander, missed time in the clutch due to injuries and BYU continued to score and bury any chance for an Auburn comeback win. McKay and Alexander would combine for 33 points as Unique Thompson as contributed with a season-high 19 rebounds in this losing effort.
Auburn finishes the season 22-10 and while they did end the season on a sour note with this loss the Auburn ladies should be very proud of their effort this whole season, but as Coach Flo said after the game "Not the way we wanted it to end but proud of our fight."
